Falling, Not Flying
by sve-aph
Summary: "I'm sorry," Berwald sighed, and Tino was confused. "I knew you had to be some sort of angel, but I don't think I expected that quite so literally." Berwald turned to leave, and Tino hated how defeated he looked. "I'll just… go."
**o.0 look another thing I wrote**

 **alas, tis horribly rushed, but it's okay. it's kinda cute.**

 **I dunno how long it'll take me to write anything beyond this and Language Bridge, so enjoy :p**

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Guardian angel training was total bullshit. Each kid in the human school already _had_ a full-fledged guardian; the trainees were just sent down to give the _actual_ angels a break. They were there to watch over just one kid, the way they would when they were done with their training. Only they had to do it _manually_. Meaning that they had to follow them _everywhere_.

Blending in was the worst part.

It was a mandatory class at their school. They studied human interactions, fashion, history, speech, and various other aspects, all with the goal of being able to pass as a human. Most of the time angels stayed in their realm, but occasionally, disaster struck and they needed to get hands on to make sure their human walked the right path.

Tino _liked_ humans. He thought they were cute. He wouldn't mind spending time amongst them- in fact, he almost preferred it. The problem was their wings. Or rather, the essential human _lack_ of wings.

When the groups of trainees were sent to earth, they each received a sack to fold their wings into. The sacks were designed by the best material innovators in the realm and made their wings undetectable to the human senses. Unfortunately, they were incredibly uncomfortable.

Despite his frustrations, Tino loved his job. He especially loved the training _because_ he got to spend the whole time surrounded by humans. Even more, he really loved his human. The boy was just so cute! Well, maybe not in the traditional human way, but Tino certainly thought so. Maybe _too_ cute.

Everyone in the realm had heard of the tales of angels and demons who had fallen in love with humans. It was a terrible thing, they said, to make the choice between the realm and love. Tino didn't see the issue.

Those in the realm didn't typically make strong connections. None of them were fertile, and marriage wasn't much of a concept due to the lack of both religion and government. Occasionally you found two who considered themselves partners, but those were typically soulmates. Everyone else remained friendly, but distant.

In the end, Tino figured it didn't matter.

Tino was excited to find his soulmate, and he was excited to think it could be the human he had been assigned. There was a constant tug towards the boy that often told of a soulmate. Even so, he knew better than to approach the boy with any truths. Berwald, his name was. Berwald was still relatively young by human standards, though Tino noticed that hadn't stopped his peers from engaging in romantic activities.

Until Tino was sure that telling Berwald about himself was worth the risk, he would maintain his simplistic human guise. It wouldn't stop him from admiring the boy though- he was very good-looking, after all. He would just have to wait.

"Tino?" Lost in his musings, Tino had failed to hear the locker room door re-open.

"Berwald?" Tino replied instinctively, scrambling to hide his wings as he turned around.

Berwald was standing in the doorway, all awkward overgrown limbs, looking lost. Tino wondered if there was any possible way that Berwald hadn't already seen his wings.

"I'm sorry," Berwald sighed, and Tino was confused. "I knew you had to be some sort of angel, but I don't think I expected that quite so literally." Berwald turned to leave, and Tino hated how defeated he looked. "I'll just… go."

The angel in question was blushing, but he couldn't push past the catch in his throat to call the boy back. Berwald let the door close softly behind him. Tino could feel that achy tug, and he knew there was no point in waiting. He should have known better.

When the stone walls and floors echoed with silence once more, Tino sat down to pull the binding back over his wings. He couldn't let Berwald go too long without his protection.

The day wore on and Tino followed Berwald to shop, where he steadily worked through making props for the theater department. There was no obvious change in the boy's demeanor, but Tino was sure that he had to be in some sort of turmoil.

Tino started from his relaxed state as he realized that Berwald was packing up to leave- a whole hour early. Confused, the angel nonetheless obediently followed the human home. Against anything Tino had ever known Berwald to do, the boy went to bed as soon as he got home.

Unsettled, Tino perched himself on the balcony outside Berwald's window. He let his wings pull out of their encasings and began grooming himself, stroking crooked feathers back into the grain of his wings. He couldn't fly very well yet, only short bursts of gliding when he had some place to jump from. Once his training on earth was done in another month or so, Tino would go back to the realm to learn how to fly. After that, Tino assumed he would return to earth for Berwald.

That is, assuming Berwald wanted him. It wasn't a thought he had considered much. Not out of vanity, but out of faith. If Berwald was really his soul mate, then there was no way he would reject him. Right?

Berwald woke from his nap a good hour later, and Tino didn't bother hiding his wings when he heard the boy open the door to join him on the balcony. The two settled down side by side, not looking at each other, but relatively comfortable nonetheless.

"Tino… are you allowed to tell me anything?" and Tino hated how hesitant Berwald's voice sounded. The boy had been but nothing but comfortable and confident since they met, and it was clear that he had been rattled.

"Well, yeah. I think I am. And if I'm not, then screw the rules. You deserve to know." Berwald raised his head from where he was fiddling with his calloused hands in his lap. Confusion was evident on his face, and Tino wanted to give him a hug.

"So… you're an angel?"

"Well. Yeah. I am."

"What does that even mean? I… I don't… _how_?"

"Ber, what do you really want to know?" The boy blushed at the nickname, and Tino felt some of his worry melt away.

"When are you going to leave me behind? If you're an angel, then there's no way you're going to stay here with me. When am I going to lose you?" Berwald was shaking with his confession and Tino couldn't stop himself from leaning his head against the boy's shoulder and wrapping a hand around his arm in consolation.

"Well, in theory, never." Berwald jolted upward and looked Tino in the eye for the first time since that moment in the locker room.

"What does that mean?"

"Ber, do you like me?"

"Y-yeah, of course I do." Tino internally cooed over the fact that this six foot tall not-quite-man-shaped boy was stuttering just trying to admit that he liked him.

"Do you _love_ me?" Berwald didn't respond to that one, but his silence was answer enough, and Tino beamed. "Well. If you want to know, I'll be leaving in a month or two." The boy's arm jerked back in hurt as Tino paused. "But then I'll be back a month or two after that." After a moment, Berwald relaxed back into Tino's hold.

"I don't understand."

"I'm here for training. That's the only reason I'm on Earth in the first place. I'm a _guardian angel_ , Berwald. We guard people, indirectly. That's my job; that's what I'm going to school for. Part of our training is to go to Earth and understand human life more intrinsically. That's why I'm in all of your classes, Ber. I'm _guarding_ you. I'm your guardian angel."

"My guardian angel? Then… why did you say you're leaving in a month?"

"That's when this segment of training will be over. I need to return to the realm to sort things out and let them know that I'm leaving. And more importantly, I _really_ need to learn to fly."

"You… you don't know how to fly?" Berwald's brow furrowed in confusion, and Tino wanted to kiss him for being so cute. Carefully untwining himself from Berwald's arm, Tino extended one of his wings for inspection.

"Well, I know the theory of it, of course. But see, my wings aren't even fully grown yet. I'm not _that_ old. I need to get instruction so I can teach myself when I'm old enough to fly. It'll be hard, but I'd rather not spend any more time there than I need to."

"Why not? They're not… _mean_ to you, are they?" Berwald's hand hesitantly rose to stroke Tino's strong primary feathers, and the angel melted at the touch.

"Oh, no. I'm as accepted as anyone else. But I just want to be where you are. I don't belong in the realm if you're not in the realm." The boy's face turned impossibly red, and Tino beamed with pride.

"T-that doesn't make any sense." He muttered.

"Why not?"

"There's no reason for you to leave your realm a second time. You should just stay where you belong."

"I belong with you, Ber. I love you. I'm not going to leave you behind. Nobody can convince me to." Tino insisted earnestly. Wordlessly, Berwald wrapped his arms around Tino's waist, pulling his angel into a hug.

"Thank you. Tino, _thank you_."

"No need to thank me, sweetheart. I'm just doing my job." Tino knew he shouldn't fall asleep there- it was the exact _opposite_ of his job- but his love's arms were warm and heavy around him and he couldn't find it in him to move.

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 **if anyone knows how to fix this pls message me or something I need so much help ;_;**

 **also review? please?**


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